


The Half Life

by StrangeMischief



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2020-11-02 12:04:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20740205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrangeMischief/pseuds/StrangeMischief
Summary: “In another life,” Stephen whispered brokenly.





	The Half Life

**Author's Note:**

> As always, enjoy :3

_ The Half Life _

He was standing on the stoop outside the Sanctum.

Despite the sun having obviously long since sunk, the night air had the heavy thickness that only appeared during the late summer months.

He should have felt warm. There should have been beads of sweat forming at his hairline. Instead, it felt like ice ran through his veins. His skin felt taut and tight as if he’d been exposed to frigid temperatures for hours.

The only source of warmth he felt was from the heavy weight of Tony’s head on his chest and the tears that soaked the front of his button-up shirt.

“In another life,” Stephen whispered brokenly. His blue eyes threatened to spill with tears. “In another life, things are going to work out for us.” He reached down to grip Tony’s warm hands in his own cold ones. “There won’t be duties, nor fiancée’s, nor anything else to keep us apart.”

“In another life.” Tony’s echo was melancholy as he let go of Stephen’s hand.

\---

Stephen found a sense of peace knowing that he had done his duty and protected the time stone. That the lives of so many had been spared. That so much death had been avoided.

Images of Tony leaving a matinée with a dark-haired child on his hip while a very pregnant Pepper trailed alongside were splashed across every cover at the newsstand.

Christine sent an engagement announcement in the mail.

Peter went to Columbia.

Yes, they were alive. Not only that. They were _living_.

Stephen sorely wished he could be too.


End file.
